By John A. D’Ambrosio, Ed.D.

The Business Council of New York State hit the nail on the head in outlining what New York State needs to do to start on the road to economic recovery: capping property taxes as well as state spending; reducing the tax burden in general; reforming public employee pensions; and limiting government borrowing to capital improvements.

It’s clear that rebuilding the state’s economy must be the new Governor’s priority. Andrew Cuomo has stated that fiscal reform will be at the top of his to-do list and we must do all we can to ensure that he fulfills this campaign promise. It’s also incumbent upon us to hold him to his pledge to “overhaul our government, clean it up and pare it down while simultaneously putting New Yorkers back to work and making New York once again the jobs capital of the nation.”

I and many of my colleagues were encouraged by Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State address. He addressed many of the concerns of the business community and seems to understand the need for the state to take immediate and dramatic steps to become more business-friendly.

I was particularly pleased to hear his remarks about reducing taxes through a property tax cap and working to consolidate some of the state’s 10,500 local governments. Cutting the cost of doing government and holding taxation are key steps toward at least slowing down the exodus of business from New York. Making the state more business-friendly is no longer an option.

Everything starts with a job. When businesses have confidence in government and the economy, they’re more apt to hire new employees — and an unemployed person becomes one who is not a drain on the economy, but one who is contributing to it.

Our state legislators of both parties have indicated that they will work with the new Governor to bring about the changes needed for New York State. No matter what your party affiliation, we all need to come together to support Gov. Cuomo and, at the same time, hold him to his campaign promises to do what’s necessary to bring about the state’s economic recovery.

(Dr. John A. D’Ambrosio is President of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce.)

No related posts.